This week I'm reviewing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie to coincide with the release of Power Rangers as I've altered my Throwback Thursday schedule to accommodate for both Power Rangers and Ghost in the Shell (2017). As a result, I'm pushing back both my Throwback Thursday Reviews over Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Spider-Man 2 and will hold off from reviewing the remaining Fast and Furious films till the already announced ninth and tenth installments. Reviews you can expect throughout the remainder of March include a Throwback Thursday Review over Ghost in the Shell (1995) and reviews for new releases Power Rangers, Life, The Boss Baby, The Zookeeper's Wife, and Ghost in the Shell (2017).
'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie' Review
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie was the first feature length translation of the hit '90s American superhero series following six teenage heroes as they must discover a means to fend off the evil Ivan Ooze when they lose their powers. The Power Rangers were huge in the '90s, I can recall everyone running around screaming "Go Go Power Rangers" while I was more in the mindset of "No No Power Rangers." It genuinely never interested me as a child because I thought it looked incredibly cheesy but with the 2017 Power Rangers around the corner I figured I should at least give it a chance.
Well, turned out my presumption was correct as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie has more cheddar than seven bags of Cheez-Its. I don't even know where to begin with the astronomically high levels of camp in this "film." Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie was directed by Bryan Spicer and includes screenplay penned by Arne Olsen with a story treatment from Olsen and John Kamps.
It will probably come as no surprise to you that the writers have done nothing substantial since 2012 and Spicer was afterwards relegated to the realm of television obscurity. The cartoonish nature of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is amusing at times but simply because of how laughably terrible everything turns out to be. In fact, I'd daresay it's verges on being enjoyable... but for all the wrong reasons. The dialogue is absurd and nonsensical while the story nearly bored me to sleep after the first thirty minutes of the film's runtime. If you asked me to distinguish the Rangers, I'd be unable to because none of them stuck out with any remotely unique characteristics. The only differences I saw were the colors, character names, and their roles I guess?
As for the technical aspects, there's not much to redeem the film there either. The Zord CG is among the worst '90s CGI I have ever seen... The wirework is an absolute travesty and the fight choreography is incredibly stupid. On top of all that, the costume work and production design are definitely dated and don't hold up at all under the scrutiny of today's standards.
Oh, and there's of course some performances if you'd call them that... Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, David Yost, Steve Cardenas, Johnny Yong Bosch, and Karan Ashley portrayed the respective Rangers but as I've already attested, bring nothing of consequence to the table to differentiate themselves from one another. Yes, they have different roles on the team but what those are exactly is beyond me aside from Frank's Tommy (The White Ranger) being the team leader and Johnson's Kimberly (The Pink Ranger) serving as the sex appeal along with Gabrielle Fitzpatrick (Dulcea). It was really weird to see so much of that stereotype in a film meant for children...
Nicholas Bell and Peta-Marie Rixon are serviceable as floating head Zordon and the obnoxious android Alpha 5 and I can't go without mentioning the film's antagonist Ivan Ooze, preposterously played by Paul Freeman. I recall seeing many comparisons drawn to the titular big bad's appearance in last years' X-Men: Apocalypse and now whole-heartingly agree. If that cheeseball representation wasn't enough farcical fiendishness for you then Jean Paul Bell, Kerry Casey, Mark Ginther, and Julia Cortez should satisfy your search for more camp as Moldant, Goldar, Lord Zedd, and Rita Repulsa.
In summary, I'm grateful to my five year old brain for resisting the Power Rangers fad growing up because it would have been one hell of a wakeup call to realize how awful this movie was. For all the Power Rangers fans that read this, I'd advise you watch Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie one more time to realize just how dumb it is (Don't worry that your fandom is under attack though because I have much kinder things to say about the 2017 Power Rangers). Thankfully, I was able to watch it for free with an HBO Now subscription and will never have to see it again. It was very difficult for me to salvage much from my viewing of this cinematic triumph (sarcasm), but I can at least say it brought a smile to my face with its ridiculousness so that spared it from the dismal grade of an F.
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